And So We Made It…Tech Week Begins

During Hell week one may snap and roll their production manager up in cardboard

            This week begins the theater ritual known as “Tech Week” or as most theater professionals will tell you… “Hell Week.”  This is the week when it all comes together, the final week before opening night.  This is when we put the last minute finishing touches on the show.  We add in full lights, sounds, costumes and makeup.  This is the week when most of us get very little sleep.

            Over the last 8 weeks, I have learned and seen a lot.  I have seen young men transform into fairies, learned how whoopee pies may one day destroy the world, gotten to know what an Istanochinoturkistanastan is and learned why overgrown zucchini is important in the world of plays.  Confused yet?  Well, all can be explained by watching “30 Reasons Not To Be In A Play.”

            In the spirit of this play, I now present to you 5 Reasons To Attend “30 Reasons Not To Be In A Play.”

Reason # 1: Laughter…When was the last time you laughed for an hour and half straight.  It has been too long I know.

Reason # 2: You might just learn something.  For example do you know why if you don’t use half inch plywood your play is likely to fail?  No, then come see us and you will find out why!

Reason # 3: You will find out why it is important when going out with friends that you should avoid pepperoni at all costs.

Reason # 4: You will discover how dangerously addicting an Ultra-zoom, hyper-pixelated, extremely expensive digital camera can be.

Reason # 5: You’re really not going to a play, you’re going to a play that’s not a play but really is a play.  Confused yet?  Well come and all will be revealed!

            If these reasons aren’t enough then let me give you a few more.  Arts programs for teens are closing down in record numbers.  Programs like PGSTT give teens a chance to express themselves in ways that they are not always able to in school.  PGSTT strives to give those involved with the program the most positive learning experience it can.  It is a good thing to support your local community arts programs because of the opportunities they provide.  Often we hear about all of the negative things teenagers are doing in our society so why not come out and support teenagers who are doing something positive. 

           

            This has been an amazing 8 weeks and we are all very excited about opening night.  Come join us in all our silly glory.  This is a great show for the family and it will have you laughing from beginning to end.  30 Reasons To Not Be in A Play is playing August 3, 4, 10 and 11 at 7 and Aug 5 and 12 at 2 at the Charis Center for the Performing Arts in Bowie.  The address is 13010 8th Street Bowie, MD 20720.  All of the information about this show and PGSTT can be found at our website www.pgstt.org.  We hope you will join us!!!

The Making of 30 Reasons: Creation Time

When you are working on a show where every actor has 6 to 10 different roles the actors have to know how to make changes so that each one of those roles is different from the others.  This is a hard thing for young actors.  In order to help them with this, we held an improv night.  We played a series of games designed to make the actors have to make deliberate choices in order to show the others what they were trying to communicate.

Kreme showing us her Mouse

We started the night with an easy came called “Animal.”  The actors draw a piece of paper out of a bag.  On that piece of paper is the name of animal.  They then have to one at a time act out the animal on the paper while the others in the room guess what they are.  This can be very difficult or very easy depending on what animal they drew.  They had to change their whole body language to become the animals.  This is always a silly and fun exercise that makes the kids begin to think about what they are doing with their bodies. 

We think Taylor is flying away

EJ is.....?

One of my favorite games for communication is a game called “Occupation, Location, Mode of Murder.”  It sounds very violent, but it isn’t.  It is a really difficult version of “Telephone” where three actors are chosen from the group.  You send two of those actors to another room and give the one remaining actor an occupation, location and mode of murder to act out for one of the two actors we sent to another room.  The catch is they can only use themselves and sounds, no words.  Once we bring in the second actor and the items have been acted out, the second actor has to decide what the first actor is trying to communicate.  Once they think they know, we bring in the third actor.  The second actor then has to act out what they think the third actor was trying to tell them.  The third actor then has to guess the 3 items.  It is actually quite difficult for young actors.  Well, we spent wuite a bit of time laughing as the actors were trying to figure things out.  We saw some really interesting and wild ideas such as one actor who decided to act out a rollercoaster by pretending to climb higher and higher while making clanking sounds until she got to the top.  She then ducked down fast while screaming.  And it worked, the actor understood.  This game is about teaching actors to make specific choices so that they can communicate exactly what they need to. 

Nicole and Jake as one person

The final exercise was simply called “Arms.”  It is an exercise that really teaches you to keep your character in place no matter what is going on around you.  In this case we remove the actors arms and replace them with another actors arms.  This we then ask the actor to act out a scene where the person providing the arms can’t see what is going on in front of them.  This makes for many awkward and sometimes amusing situations.  When an actor is trying to eat something like a cookie in a scene, if their arms aren’t their own sometimes the food doesn’t always end up in the mouth.  If an actor wants a specific prop but the arms don’t pick that one up the actor learns to act with the prop they got.  It made for quite a few hilarious scenes.

Kyrston is not sure what they are doing

Kreme enjoying her hair stylist, EJ

Asst. Director Gloria gets in on the action

Anthony loves his cookies!

It was a good evening at rehearsal where we saw each of the actors show us several different characters.  As we continue to work on 30 reasons, we are trying to show them that each of the 104 roles is something unique and different.  We are trying to teach them that the show will be more interesting if they are showing us different characters instead of slight variations of themselves on stage.  We continue to explore this as we rehearse for opening night.  Don’t forget to mark your calendars and come see 30 Reasons Not To Be In A Play August 3, 4, 10 and 11 at 7 and Aug 5 and 12 at 2 at the Charis Center for the Performing Arts in Bowie.

30 Reasons: A Different Perspective...the cast member

So, as I said in my last blog..."How do you build a show that isn’t really a show, but is in fact a show?" That question is becoming clear with every rehearsal that we have. It has been awesome to watch the actors become more comfortable with the show and start to take chances. For the first time in my life as a director I had to tell an actor to actually bring down their volume. You don't realize how small a room is until you have an actor projecting and the sound hurts your ears. But enough about me, this week we have a short blog from one of our cast members, Taylor Daniels. Taylor is a very talented young person and this is the second show I have directed her in. She is always fun and outgoing on stage and I look forward to working with her more in the future.    

Taylor Daniels

Hi! I’m Taylor Daniels, a cast member of PGSTT’s 30 Reasons Not To Be In A Play. Since the last blog post, I think our biggest news is that we have a new cast member!! Her name is Alyssa and she’s a great new addition to the cast. She nice, funny, lovable, a great actress…and guess what? She can do triple flips!

Anyways, rehearsals are coming along great. The past two weeks we’ve just been blocking scenes and  going through either act one or act two each rehearsal. The show is already coming together really well…but there’s only a little more than a month until we open!  But I know that we will be ready. Everyone in the cast is doing great and every rehearsal is so much fun. I love our cast!

 This week, we have two rehearsals since Thursday it is Independence Day and we usually have Wednesdays off. Monday night…is the first night we will—well should—have every cast member at rehearsal for the VERY FIRST TIIIIIIIIIIIMEEEEE! This should make it more fun and easier to get through as many reasons as we can. This is also means...it is time to begin our game of Assassin.

Well to conclude my very short blog, I’m really enjoying my time with PGSTT’s 30 Reasons Not To Be In A Play. I think everyone is having a good time while putting together this great comedy of a play, that isn’t a play, but is in fact a play. Keep checking our blog for more posts along the way of this production….and come see the show August 3, 4, 10 and 11 at 7 and Aug 5 and 12 at 2 at the Charis Center for the Performing Arts in Bowie.

VISIT WWW.PGSTT.ORG FOR MORE INFORMATION

How do you perform a show that isn't a show but is a show? The Making of "30 Reasons Not To Be In A Play!"

How do you build a show that isn’t really a show, but is in fact a show?  Sounds confusing, right!  Well, that is where we began back in the end of May when PGSTT chose to produce the comedy 30 Reasons Not To Be In A Play by Alan Haehnel.  It is a play that has no main character or dramatic through line to speak of.  It is a whole lot of silly with 101 speaking parts and lots of fun happening on stage.  When I began to read it, I thought how do I keep it all straight.  How am I going to remember who is what part in which scene?  It is very much a sketch comedy show and that is what makes it challenging but also a lot of fun for the performers and the audience.  This show gives the audience a chance to take a peek into the mind of people who are constantly on stage.  The 30 reasons of the title each offer a unique albeit goofy insight into the mind of an actor or actress.

The whole cast at the first read through

So, now that we have that out of the way we needed to begin to build the show from the ground up.  This means we needed performers.  How do you get performers, hold auditions!  Auditions for this show were interesting to say the least.  We chose a series of scenes from the play and we paired up performers to read the scenes for us.  We didn’t give the performers any context for the scenes because we all wanted to see what they would do with just the words on the page.  Would they go over the top?  Would they make it overly dramatic?  Would they just read the lines with no feeling at all and stand in one spot the whole time?  Thankfully, no one chose that last one.  But it was interesting seeing different pairs of kids read the same scenes and have them come out totally differently.  By the end of 2 days of auditions we had seen many kids play everything from very old people to very young, boys play girls and vice versa, 12 year olds play parents to 20 year olds and much more.  It was definitely one of the more interesting auditions I have ever conducted.  After auditions, we took a few days to digest what we had seen on stage on those 2 nights.  Then in one marathon casting session we cast 16 students in 101 roles.  It only took 3 hours, a few gallons of iced tea, 2 blocks of cheese, 3 sleeves of Ritz crackers and a few cookies.  After this, the real fun would begin.

The real fun begins in any show with “the read through.”  This is where we gather the entire cast in one room and have them sit in a circle with the script.  All of them were seeing the script for the first time and were expected to read through the entire thing together.  This can be a little nerve racking for the director because this is your first real chance to see if you cast the right actors in the right roles.  In the case of 30 reasons, we were truly blessed.  As the kids began to read it, a lot of humor that isn’t on the page came out.  Things we didn’t see from some of the performers in auditions came to life.  The kids really began to get into it and we spent a good deal of the time laughing and having a great time.  Then it was time to go for the night, we would have to begin with team and cast building at the next rehearsal.

Stay tuned to this blog as we will update weekly on the show and how it is coming together.  And don’t forget to come see “30 Reasons Not To Be In A Play” August 3, 4, 10 and 11 at 7 and Aug 5 and 12 at 2 at the Charis Center for the Performing Arts in Bowie.

The PGSTT Project!

I am excited to announce a brand new opportunity that we encourage all past PGSTT production members to participate in!

Have you ever wanted to write a play? Got a story idea or concept that you think would translate well on stage? Have you always dreamed of putting on your very own production, but never had the resources to do so? Interested in trying your hand at directing? PGSTT is going to give you your shot!

This year, we are planning on adding a new Spring Performance into our repertoire, and we want you to write it! That’s right, you heard me! We are hosting a competition which we’d like to call The PGSTT Project, in search of the perfect original script to put on a black box theater style production. You send us a proposal of your idea, and if we select it as the winner, you will then get to write the full script and (if you so choose) direct the show itself! Details of the competition have been attached.

Don’t let this opportunity pass you by! It’s a wonderful outlet for your creativity and a great way learn the ropes of putting together an original playwright!

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to ask!

Beginning Another Year

Some might think this is the approach to the end of the year, but for our organization this is the beginning of our new year.  The Board of Directors is reconvening to begin the work for our next production.  we hope to bring on some new Board members and reinvision the way the board functions.  The board needs to restruct itself so that it can focus its energies in the two areas that are most important - funding and support, and planning for the new production.  we also need to pick a show for next summer.  send us your suggestions for shows.  and if you would like to help our organization by serving on our board, please contact us at pgstt@hotmail.com.  Help us ring in our new year.

Hairpray Begins

Wow, what a start to another year.  I missed auditions for the first time in 10 years.  Auditions are a great time to see old friends and meet some great new people.  I returned from a trip to find we had some amazing young people come into our program this summer.  We still had missing actors needed to fill out our cast, but we have had a few actors step up and fill in the blanks.  So far the cast has been so much fun.  They came together to help out in a car wash fundraiser.  They participate with amazing energy in our rehearsals and they have even met outside of rehearsals to review choreography and blocking on their own time.  Our program faces some serious financial difficulties, but the Board of Directors is working to find the necessary funding to keep our program up and running.  I really look forward to seeing how this cast brings Hairspray to its ultimate glory. The production staff is working amazingly hard to create a great show.  Heather and Hana are working very well with the cast.  My special thanks go out to Gloria and Mark for all the work they have done to keep this show moving forward.   Thank you cast for being so much fun. 
Marguerite